St Nicholas' Church, Worth

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St. Nicholas' parish church St Nicholas Church, Worth, Crawley.JPG
St. Nicholas' parish church

St Nicholas Church is a Church of England parish church in Worth, a village in Crawley, England which at one time had the largest geographical parish in England.[ when? ]

Church of England parish church church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region

A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, the parish – since the 19th century called the ecclesiastical parish to avoid confusion with the civil parish which many towns and villages have.

Crawley Town & Borough in England

Crawley is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is 28 miles (45 km) south of Charing Cross (London), 18 miles (29 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 32 miles (51 km) north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of 17.36 square miles (44.96 km2) and had a population of 106,597 at the time of the 2011 Census.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Contents

History

East end, showing apse and tower St Nicholas Church, Worth, Crawley (Liturgical East End).jpg
East end, showing apse and tower

St Nicholas’ Church, Worth, is one of the oldest churches in the country and has been a place of Christian worship and devotion for well over 1000 years. It is known that the church is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and parts of it have been dated to between AD 950 and 1050, in particular the chancel arch and apse. It was built in what, at the time, was a forest. The reason for building a church here is unknown, but it is surmised that the area would have had good hunting grounds and royal or noble visitors to the grounds would need a place to pray in comfort.[ citation needed ] As it was a large church isolated in the forest, it is unlikely it was just for local needs. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror gave the church to his son-in-law William de Warenne, whose coat of arms is still visible in the stained glass windows of the church. In the 14th century, the church was passed from the de Warrenne family to the Fitzalan family, who lost it in 1415 to Nevills, Earl of Abergavenny.[ clarification needed ]

Anglo-Saxon architecture architectural style

Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. No universally accepted example survives above ground.

Apse Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome

In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra. In Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic Christian church architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical east end, regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical. Smaller apses may also be in other locations, especially shrines.

Bell-ringing

Records of bell-ringing here go back to 1684, and bell-ringing still remains part of the weekly routine. The current tower, with its broached and shingled spire, was added in 1871 by Anthony Salvin. [1] to replace an earlier building which rested on tree trunks! A note from 1684 reveals that the church had 3 bells but an additional one was then added. The bells were re-cast in 1844 to form a peal of 6 and then again, by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon, in 1928. Since 1928, only routine maintenance was needed until 1997, when major work on the bells was carried out. Pulleys, wheels and clappers were removed and taken to the foundry for refurbishment, they were then refitted and the bells rehung. The bells are still hung in the oak frame dating from the 1844 installation, which sits on the belfry floor 1.5m (5ft)above the ringers’ heads but this was strengthened in 1997. The largest bell, the tenor, is 91cm (3ft) in diameter and weighs 489kg (9cwt 2qrts and 14lbs). Its note is A, the whole ring being harmonically tuned in the key of A. The total weight of bells in the tower is over 36cwt.

Broach spire

A broach spire is a type of tall pyramidal or conical structure (spire) which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces.

Roof shingle

Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat, rectangular shapes laid in courses from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive course overlapping the joints below. Shingles are made of various materials such as wood, slate, flagstone, metal, plastic, and composite materials such as fibre cement and asphalt shingles. Ceramic roof tiles, which still dominate in Europe and some parts of Asia, are still usually called tiles. Roof shingles may deteriorate faster and need to repel more water than wall shingles. They are a very common roofing material in the United States.

Anthony Salvin architect

Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country houses, and built a number of new houses and churches.

Restoration

In 1986 workmen were treating roof timbers of the church for protection against vermin when a fire broke out. The fire brigade quickly put out the blaze, saving the main building, but the roof timbers were severely damaged. This rendered the building unstable, however, which resulted in much scaffolding being put up, which in turn required pews and flooring to be removed. The roof was redesigned and the walls were strengthened. New floors and pews were fitted. The new pews, unlike the pre-restoration ones, are easier to move, giving the church more flexibility. The old pews were considered impossible to re-install in the church. The restoration cost about £510,000 and was complete by 1988. It was during the extensive renovation work that archaeologists were able to confirm the dating of the church’s original construction.

The church today

Interior, looking east towards the apsidal chancel WorthChurchInside.jpg
Interior, looking east towards the apsidal chancel

Worth Church is still in use as a parish church today, - and is thought[ by whom? ] to be the oldest church in continuous use in the country. It has at least two services each Sunday (usually 8am and 10am) and a midweek Eucharist on Thursdays at 10.30am.[ citation needed ] It has a band of bellringers and a church choir.

Eucharist Christian rite

The Eucharist is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper; giving his disciples bread and wine during the Passover meal, Jesus commanded his followers to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the new covenant in my blood". Through the Eucharistic celebration Christians remember both Christ's sacrifice of himself on the cross and his commission of the apostles at the Last Supper.

The grave of Robert Whitehead at St Nicholas' Church, pictured in 2013 Robert Whitehead grave.jpg
The grave of Robert Whitehead at St Nicholas' Church, pictured in 2013

The churchyard includes the grave of Robert Whitehead, inventor of the modern torpedo. In a plot bordered with blue railings, his epitaph reads "His fame was known by all nations hereabouts". Also in the churchyard are the Commonwealth war graves of four British Army soldiers and a Royal Navy officer of World War I and a British Army officer and an Indian Army officer of World War II. [2]

Robert Whitehead English engineer

Robert Whitehead was an English engineer who was most famous for developing the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo.

Torpedo self-propelled underwater weapon

A modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars. The Commission is also responsible for commemorating Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action during World War II. The Commission was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through Royal Charter in 1917 named the Imperial War Graves Commission. The change to the present name took place in 1960.

See also

The county of West Sussex in South East England has 176 Grade I listed buildings. Such buildings are described by English Heritage, the authority responsible for their designation, as "of exceptional interest [and] sometimes considered to be internationally important". Grade I is the highest of the three grades of listed status in England: about 2.5% of the country's 374,000 listed buildings have this designation.

Listed buildings in Crawley Wikimedia list article

As of 2011 there were 102 listed buildings and structures in the English borough of Crawley, West Sussex. Two others have subsequently gained listed status. The Borough of Crawley is based on the town of the same name, located approximately halfway between London and Brighton. Although Crawley expanded substantially after World War II when it was designated a New Town by an Act of Parliament, many older buildings remain.

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References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Worth (1187114)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ↑ CWGC cemetery report, breakdown from casualty record.

Sources and further reading

Coordinates: 51°06′37″N0°08′30″W / 51.1103°N 0.1416°W / 51.1103; -0.1416

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